The word came to me one day while I was driving in the car. I was alone and praying out loud. I like to find a “word” and focus on it each year. The Lord had given me the same word for the past two years, but this year was different. Softly and unexpectedly I felt the word “sacred” pressed onto my heart. The word fell softly from my lips as I pictured white linen and hushed tones. I heard whispered secrets shared through the millennia with a quiet reverence. I envisioned earthen floors and sandaled feet kneeling with heads bowed, praying beautiful yet simple words of contrition and humility. I pictured aged fingers holding tightly to small hands as one generation shared Truth with the next. What on earth did that have to do with me in 2019?  

I feel like we’ve lost a bit of the reverence in our relationship with the Lord in our current culture. Certainly this isn’t a blanket statement, but I see so much of it in my own life. Priests in the Old Testament took the utmost care and dedication to see that every detail was precise and perfect as according to the Law. Acts of sacrifice were particular down to the smallest detail. Every aspect of service and praise to the Lord was structured and laid out. It was an honor and a privilege for one generation to lead the next toward training and dedication to the Lord. Somewhere in my 21st-century lifestyle I’ve lost the awe and reverence in my worship. I have moments of breathless wonder when I’m in the presence of the Lord, but overall, I tend to treat the Lord very casually. The God who created the earth and all that’s in it…the God who breathed life into Adam’s nostrils…the God that left His throne to walk with His fallen people…the God who’s picked me up from the floor and wiped away my tears countless times…that God. I like to carry Him in my back pocket and pull Him out when it’s convenient or when I need Him. I carelessly throw around His name and ridicule His people when it suits me. I defiantly question His authority and sovereignty on the regular. Where are the hushed tones? Where is my humbled contrition?

This study is personal. I’m not coming to you with a PhD in Theology or a seminary degree. Neither will this be an exhaustive in-depth study of a book of the BIble. I’m an average wife and mom. I love God and long to hear from Him. I feel compelled to share what He speaks to my heart. As people, we aren’t terribly unique in the struggles department, so I believe that what I need help with is what others do as well. What God uses to comfort and encourage me can also benefit you. Linking hands figuratively through a study like this is critical to growth. The more I want to change and be molded into Christ individually, the more I need a community around me to cheer me on and hold up my arms on occasion. 

It seems like a paradox, but in order to move forward in our faith we must return to our roots. We must return to a place of hushed reverence before our God. Our pursuit of Him must be intentional. I hope you’re along for the ride. I believe building community is one of the ways we return to our roots and create a space where we can thrive as believers. Community and unity is where we dig into what relationship with God and others is really all about. I invite you to meditate on this word sacred and what it means looking through the lens of the book of Daniel and through my perspective. And so it begins...